


we just need a spark

by pearlselegancies



Category: The Kane Chronicles - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dance, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Lots of drama, Musical Theatre AU, backstage au, performing arts school, teenagers being dumb
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29845980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pearlselegancies/pseuds/pearlselegancies
Summary: Brooklyn Academy for the Gifted, or BAG is the school of any up and coming artists dreams. Nestled in the heart of Brooklyn, the school is one of America’s leading performing arts schools, and the place where students in the 4 programs are trained to the best of their ability. It’s a place to stay and realize your potential, but also the place where you have to fight to make it. And as the students there often say, everything at BAG starts Backstage.
Relationships: Carter Kane & Sadie Kane, Carter Kane/Zia Rashid, Jasmine "Jaz" Anderson & Carter Kane & Zia Rashid, Jasmine "Jaz" Anderson & Zia Rashid, Sadie Kane & Zia Rashid
Kudos: 4





	1. ARABESQUE

**Author's Note:**

> so i had this posted a while ago, but i deleted it, and now i've decided to post it again so uh.... yay?

Zia groaned as she fell out of her third fouette, again. Usually, the Egyptian-American girl was able to land her fouettes gracefully, but today was not one of those days. Stumbling as she tried to maintain her balance, she fell to the ground falling onto her side. 

“Oh for fucks sake!” Zia growled, shoving a sweaty hand through her damp hair, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. She could feel her heart racing as she tried to calm down, fiddling with the strings of her sweatshirt. 

“Ok, let's try that again, for the millionth time.” Zia mumbled to herself grabbing a bobby pin from her ponytail, using it to pin her bangs back out of her face. 

Standing up, Zia braced herself to begin the combo, her head held high as she let one hand swoop out in front of her, the other behind as her left leg came behind her right. She sucked a breath in as she went into her arabesque, smiling to herself as she came down from it gently. 

She prepped for the first pirouette, engaging her core and choosing her eye spot. Her breathing evened out as she landed gently, her ponytail flying over her shoulder as she turned to her right. Prepping for her pirouette again, Zia sucked another breath in, pulling herself up as she rotated on her left. 

She let out a sigh of relief as she came down solidly. She pulled her arms above her head as she began to glissade, allowing her right foot to come out before doing the same thing with her left. 

Ending on her left side, Zia began to chaine towards the mirror, ending in second position. Breathing heavily, she rose up into releve before starting to fouette. As quickly as she had started, Zia found herself quickly falling out of her fouettes, before stumbling towards the ground as she always did. 

This time however, Zia fell on her ankle, rather than on her side like she usually did. “Oh my God. Holy shit that hurts!” Zia hissed, as she attempted to stand again. 

Her ankle felt sore, but in a way she'd never felt before. It ached like she'd pulled a muscle or something. Grabbing onto the wall, she carefully pulled herself up, her breathing laboured as she felt her eyes beginning to tear up. 

“Hey is anyone here? Jaz? Dee?” Zia looked up, her eyes meeting those of someone else who stood in the doorway. Instinctively, Zia moved her bad foot behind her good one, before shaking her head at the other person. “No. I'm the only one in here.” 

The person, a boy her mind corrected, nodded before waving. “Ok thanks.” 

He stopped, pulling his hood off of his head as he stared at her for a moment. “Wait, are you Zia Rashid? From English 20? Mrs Arbourfields’ class in period 3?” 

Zia looked at the boy, confusion on her face as she realized that the boy didn't know her as Zia Rashid, prima ballerina.

For the first time in almost a year, someone recognized from something normal, from something any regular teenager would know. Smiling in a way that made her feel weird, she responded. “Uh yeah. And you are?” 

The boy nodded before responding. “Carter. Carter Kane. We share English 20 together.” 

Zia nodded, her eyes meeting Carter's again as she looked up at him. He was taller than her, and she had to look up in order to see him. Carter smiled at her, before flopping down on the floor next to her. Zia stared at him again before sitting down, careful of her ankle. 

“So, what are you doing here? It's almost 4pm. School got out almost an hour ago. Are you waiting for a ride or something?” Carter's voice broke Zia's train of thought as he spoke.

She looked up at him again, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She shrugged before responding. “No. I usually stay behind an extra hour or two to get more practice in.” 

Carter nodded in understanding. Zia sucked a breath in, wringing her hands together, doing her best to ignore the pain that ricocheted through her ankle. They sat in silence for a moment, the only sounds being their breathing, specifically Zia's laboured breathing. 

Carter looked at her again, before looking down at his phone. 

“Shit.” He grumbled standing up with a flourish. He held his hand to Zia. Zia looked at him, confusion on her face. “What's wrong?” She asked, accepting his hand. “Nothing.” Carter replied, before helping Zia up. “My mom's leaving so she can mark some papers and she says if I don't get into the car in the next 20 minutes she's leaving me behind.” 

Zia looked at him, feeling her cheeks flush. He smiled at her, before pulling his hood back up and shoving his phone into his pocket. 

“Oh, ok then. Bye Carter. See you tomorrow.” Carter smiled at her again, jogging out of the studio, until the only thing Zia could see was his silhouette leaving the building. 

Sighing, Zia pulled her hair out of the high ponytail she'd shoved it into earlier. Running her fingers through tangled and sweaty curls, she grabbed her dance bag off of the studio floor. Sitting down again, she carefully unlaced and then pulled her pointe shoes off, placing them into her bag. She searched through her bag for a moment, before pulling out a pair of sweatpants, she grimaced as she pulled them over her tights. 

Grabbing onto the barre, Zia stood up, her ankle still sore. She limped slightly as she did her best to walk towards the door, where her sneakers were. Limping, she managed to make her way to the door, pulling her sneakers on with a pained grimace. She stood up again, breathing heavily as she cursed inwardly. 

Today was going to be a day, she decided as she began to walk out the door. Today was going to be a day and she would just have to deal with it. 


	2. PIROUETTE

"Z? Zia? Hey, you ok?" Zia snapped out of her daydream with a sharp nod, her close friend Jaz's voice brought her back to reality. The blonde-haired singer raised an eyebrow at Zia before continuing to speak. 

Zia's mattress squeaked under Jaz's movement as the blonde-haired girl moved closer, her head leaning against Zia's shoulder. "Zia, I've been calling your name for ten minutes. What or who is on your mind?"

Zia rolled her eyes, already knowing where Jaz was going with this. Jaz had a slight obsession with romance, and more specifically, finding it for Zia. Zia had been forced onto way too many surprise dates because of Jaz's hopeless romantic tendencies. 

"Jasmine Elisa Anderson," Zia began, earning a pout from Jaz. "What?" Jaz whined, her body falling into Zia's lap. Zia stared at her blankly. Jaz sighed in response. The two sat in silence for a moment. 

Jaz spoke up, lifting herself off of Zia's lap and against the brunette girl's headboard. "Ok, but just think about it Z. You're always so stressed out because of dance. You never take any time for yourself because dance gets in the way. You having a boyfriend or girlfriend means you'll get to have fun again."

"Yeah," Zia responded, "or it will just cause a hell of a lot of unnecessary stress. Besides Jaz, dance is my only ticket out of my mom's shadow. I'm not going to give that up, especially not for some people who might not even last long." 

Jaz rolled her eyes, a look of disbelief on her face. "You are unbelievable. You know that right?" Zia smiled in response, gently tapping Jaz's cheek. Jaz scoffed, before sliding down on the bed and rolling over, so that her back was facing Zia. 

Zia rolled her eyes again before grabbing her phone off of her dresser. Quickly turning it on, she sighed as she noticed the time. 9:53 PM, her clock read. 

Zia ran a hand through her hair, ready to close her phone, as a notification popped up. 

It was from Instagram, a follow request notification, and Zia resisted the urge to simply swipe it away. She tapped on it, a grimace decorating her face as it opened. She was too used to getting follow requests, mainly because of her mom, and because people wanted proof that they were following Zia Rashid, ballet royalty. 

The username and profile picture this time, caught her eye. The person's username was simple, @cartertheman, which made Zia snort at how juvenile it sounded. 

Who would put that as their username? 

The profile picture was what tipped Zia off. It was a photo of the boy from earlier that afternoon, Carter Kane was his name. 

Zia tapped on the accept button with bated breath, her heart pouring in her ears. Without thinking, she followed him back. Carter accepted her request almost immediately, and Zia let out a sigh of relief that she didn't even know she had been holding. 

The Egyptian-American girl stared at her phone for another moment, before turning it off, Carter's goofy smile remaining in her mind. She shut her phone off, gently placing it onto her dresser before lying down next to Jaz. 

Jaz cuddled up next to her like she always did when they had sleepovers. Zia smiled at the tall blonde who was already fast asleep.

\--------

(2 days later) 

"You know," Carter began, a goofy smile on his face as he handed Zia's bag to her. They walked out of the empty dance studio together. They began walking down the hallway towards the Musicality students hall. 

"I know what?" Zia asked, confused about what the boy was talking about. Carter smiled again, wrapping an arm around her waist leading her into one of the many recording studios. "Carter, what the hell are we doing in here?" Zia asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she glared at the boy.

Carter stayed quiet, passing her a pair of headphones, putting his on with an excited look. "We, my dear are going to sing!" Zia looked at him, her eyebrows raised as she gave him the flattest look possible. This boy. Zia stifled a laugh as she looked at Carter's excited face. "You're joking right?" 

Carter shook his head and Zia felt her stomach drop as she realized that Carter was serious. "Carter.." She started as she leaned against the door of the recording studio. "We've known each other for exactly two days and you want me to sing with you?" 

Carter smiled, the goofy smile Zia had gotten used to. She sighed, this is what she had signed herself up for when she had become his friend. "What song are we even singing?" Zia asked, ignoring the way Carter smiled up at her, all goofy and wide. 

"Dig Deep by the Backstage Cast." He responded handing a pair of headphones. She took them before asking another question. 

"Backstage? What is that?" 

"An old broadway musical. It was about students at a performing arts school. My mom was obsessed with it. She used to sing some of the songs as lullabies to me."

'Oh,' Zia thought to herself. 'He's lucky that he got lullabies. All I got was being shoved into the nanny's arms.'

"Huh." She said out loud as Carter handed her his phone not looking up from the microphone stand. 

"Code is 1-9-5-4." 

"What?" Zia asked, looking at him in confusion.

"My phone password. It's 1-9-5-4. In case it turns off." 

"Oh. Ok then." Zia had never sounded so stupid in her life. She looked at the phone screen which was already open to Carter's notes, where what she assumed were the lyrics to the song were typed out. 

_**Years of running, couldn't stop** _

_**Too afraid to sleep** _

_**Mind stays busy, eyes stay low** _

_**Look but never leap** _

God, if there had ever been a song that Zia related to more, it was definitely this one. She kept reading, as Carter fiddled with the mic stand. 

_**And then you** _

_**Taught me** _

_**And then you** _

Carter was reading over her shoulder now, his warm breath hitting her cheek as he hummed what Zia thought must be the melody. She looked over at him, and he smiled softly at her before starting to sing the chorus. 

_**Dig deep and don't be afraid** _

_**Dig deep and live** _

_**Dig deep and don't be afraid** _

_**Dig deep and live** _

_**Every day** _

Zia looked at the words on the screen before quietly starting to sing as well, very much aware of how out of tune she was. 

_**Learn your music, read your words** _

_**Don't think, only play** _

_**Skim the surface, don't get wet** _

_**Seize the yesterday** _

Carter smiled at her again, before joining in. They sang together, their eyes locked. 

_**Until you** _

_**Taught me** _

_**Until you** _

Zia looked away, a bright red tint forming on her cheeks as Carter sang the chorus again, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. 

_**Dig deep and don't be afraid** _

_**Dig deep and live** _

_**Dig deep and don't be afraid** _

_**Dig deep and live** _

Carter nudged her with his shoulder, and she smiled at him before singing as well. They grooved to the drumbeat together. 

_**Dig deep and don't be afraid** _

_**Dig deep and live** _

_**Dig deep and don't be afraid** _

_**Dig deep and live** _

_**Every day** _

Their eyes met, and Zia sucked an uneasy breath in. Carter leaned forward, and she froze, thinking that he was about to kiss her. 

Instead, he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, smiling at her. 

"I-I got to go. I just remembered that I have rehearsal. Like in a few minutes." Zia turned her phone on, showing Carter the time. Carter nodded in response, and Zia grabbed her things, throwing a fake smile over her shoulder as she speed walked through the hallway. 

Her ankle throbbed, but she had to get out of there. Before she did something stupid like kissing him. Or worse, rejecting him. 

'God.' She thought as she walked into the dance studio. 'I totally just fucked up everything.' 

She sat on the cold Marley floor, her heart beating rapidly in her ears. Jesus. She was totally fucked. 


End file.
